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It was a crazy travel week, but I finally got around to writing about leaving Mexico.

After spending a day packing our bags (to six kilos… Thomas Cook’s carry-on restrictions are tiny), a ten hour flight, and two hours of sleep, we arrived at London Gatwick Airport at 8:00 AM on Tuesday. The jet lag was brutal as it was 1:00 AM our time.

By 9:00 we were en route to Victoria Station, in the center of the city. We had a quick, healthy breakfast and some coffee at a chain cafe called EAT. Around ten we began our self guided eight mile tour of the city. I saw the Buckinham Place (and a double decker bus), ran though the Green Park (it was freezing), and took some pictures in telephone booths at the Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. You know, the touristy stuff. The London Eye had a line for hours so instead we took a free CPR class from some on-strike British med students. Unfortunately, Google maps led us to the wrong London Bridge, but we saw it from afar. The end of our walk was the Liverpool station, and at 2:30 we took the train to Rayan Airport where our next flight would take us to Zadar, Croatia for two weeks.

Had we had more time we would have explored more, been a bit more relaxed, and gone to museums, but I think that in four hours we saw much of what tourists see on week long vacations. I hope to come back in the future ( maybe when the pound is a bit kinder to the dollar) to England to stay for longer and see more of the country.

Also, thoughts on the terror threat at the moment:

Right now, like many other European countries, the terror threat of the UK is at severe. Most travel websites would advise against traveling to London because the chance of a terror attack is ‘inevitable’. So should this stop you from travelling to the area? I don’t think so. In London people seemed to be just going about their daily lives. They are aware of the threat but they can’t and don’t let it control their lives. We went to all of the places that are considered targets of terrorism (tourist sites and large subway stations) and tried to be alert – but not afraid. Terrorism is a scary thought, and to be afraid and to have fear stop you from doing something is go give the terrorists what they want. It’s important to keep fears in perspective, few people are afraid to get in their cars yet over a million people die in car crashes every year. Many however are afraid of planes. If you do travel be alert, don’t get caught up or trapped in a large crowd or protest. The police force is everywhere so report anything that feels suspicious and most importantly trust your instincts and use common sense.

Thanks for reading 🙂 safe travels! Comments are really appreciated so feel free to leave one if you’d like 🙂 – Izzy